semester

1 of 2

noun

se·​mes·​ter sə-ˈme-stər 

1

: either of the two usually 18-week periods of instruction into which an academic year is often divided

2

: a period of six months

semestral

sə-ˈme-strəl 

adjective

or semestrial

sə-ˈme-strē-əl 

semestral

2 of 2

adjective

se·​mes·​tral -strəl 

variants or semestrial

-ˌtrēəl 

: occurring every six months or within a period of six months : of or relating to a six-month period

Examples of semester in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Every semester, students walked into my classroom with different levels of confidence, experience and direction. — Valerie McGehee, Forbes.com, 4 Aug. 2026

The initial Optio rollout had been expected to expand to approximately 500 high school students during the fall semester. — Jesse Watson, FOXNews.com, 3 Aug. 2026

Less than a month before the start of the fall semester at Georgia Tech, the Midtown Atlanta school is temporarily closing one of its dormitories. — Jason Armesto, AJC.com, 31 July 2026

Less than 1 percent of students applying to the University of Florida or Florida State University for the fall 2024 and 2025 semesters used a CLT score, records showed. — Chris Quintana, USA Today, 30 July 2026

Word History

Etymology

Noun

German, from Latin semestris half-yearly, from sex six + mensis month — more at six, moon

Adjective

Latin semestris half-yearly + English -al or -ial

First Known Use

Noun

1827, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Phrases Containing semester

• semester hour

Rhymes for semester

• ancestor
• arrester
• digester
• investor
• protester
• requester
• sequester
• silvester
• trimester
• ester
• esther
• fester

Kids Definition

semester

noun

se·​mes·​ter sə-ˈmes-tər 

: either of two terms of about 18 weeks each that make up a school year